


Distractions

by TheMusicMeister



Series: RWBY Tunes [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, One Shot, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25655167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMusicMeister/pseuds/TheMusicMeister
Summary: Weiss and Ruby are working on homework, but Weiss seems to have other things on her mind...
Series: RWBY Tunes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860091
Kudos: 3





	Distractions

**Author's Note:**

> I used this piece as a way to kind of get myself out of a writing funk. I didn't go back over it to edit or proofread this time around... I just kind of wanted to let it out and see where the work ended up. It might be a bit messy... but I hope you enjoy nonetheless!

“Weiss?… Weiiiiissss!!”

Weiss blinked, slowly coming back to reality. She had been thinking, as she was frequently known to do, and it had only been due to Ruby’s insistent voice that she had been pulled from what had surely been some deep, fruitful self-reflection. It was only proper, after all; she was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, so it was doubtful that she was thinking of anything less than highly important as was befitting her name and station.

“Sorry, Ruby…” Weiss muttered, still working at slogging her way out of the slow-moving muck of whatever she had been thinking of before. The white-haired girl raised her eyes to meet those of her teammate and partner, crystalline blue meeting silver-gray. She offered Ruby a smile, though it didn’t feel very genuine even to her, likely coming across more pained and tentative rather than reassuring as she had intended, and she gave up on the effort within a few moments. “I was… thinking.”

“Well, yeah!” Ruby replied, the exclamation punctuated with a snort and a giggle as the excitable girl shook her head. “I’d hope you were thinking about something, otherwise you would’ve just been staring off into the distance for no reason!”

Those silver eyes searched Weiss’ face, seeming to pierce through her defenses in that way only Ruby could manage. Somehow, despite their rocky beginnings and rough first impressions, Weiss had not only ended up on the same team as Ruby Rose, but the other girl had also been named her team leader - something that, up until recently, Weiss would have had significant trouble believing had she not been present when the headmaster had announced the teams.

In fact, even though she had heard it with her own ears, Weiss had all but directly opposed the decision in every way she could. She had been unable to accept that this young, carefree, clumsy, ignorant little girl had been selected to lead her team above a much worthier candidate - Weiss herself. In her mind, Weiss was the perfect prospect for team leadership; she was of high birth, heiress to a multi-billion lien company, she had been trained in the difficulties of combat and the proprieties of politics for some time before even coming to Beacon, and she was intelligent, creative, and determined to levels far beyond her meager 17 years of age.

Or so she had thought at the time… It had barely been a few weeks into the start of classes when Weiss’ predispositions had been brought crashing down around her ears, and she had been shown the error of her ways in brutal, efficient fashion. It had taken the advice of not one, but several huntsmen and teachers to convince her that she was the one in the wrong, though at first it had done nothing but make her even angrier. Did they not know who she was? She was born for this kind of role. But once she had finally begun to accept their words and to see things from an outside perspective, Weiss had been forced to accept that not only were they right, but she was wrong - a revelation which was neither frequent in occurrence nor easy to acquire.

It had taken some adjustment for Weiss to slip herself into her new role - well, ok… quite a bit of adjustment. It was a considerable change for her, moving from a life where she was used to most everyone jumping to obey her every whim to this new life where she was just… Weiss. Not Weiss Schnee, not Ms Schnee, not the heiress to the SDC, but just Weiss. A girl, a huntress in training, and a new iteration of the person she was capable of being.

“Weiiiiiss…”

Ruby’s whine dragged Weiss out of her reverie once more, and she realized with a start that she had let herself fall into contemplation yet again. This time around, her partner was much less amused by her relapse in attention span. Ruby’s arms were crossed over her chest, her petite face set in a pout as she glared at Weiss.

“You did it again!” Ruby complained, her tone a not-quite-convincing level of scolding which let Weiss know she wasn’t truly annoyed. There was the usual telltale sparkle in the red-haired girl’s eyes, a thinly-veiled sign that anyone who knew her could use to discern her actual mood. Still, there still was a limit to Ruby’s kindness and patience, even if it was staggeringly high; Weiss had only ever seen it reached once, and she had made a vow that day to never let herself be the cause of it recurring. “What’s going on? C’mon, you can tell me!”

Grimm run when a good huntsman goes to war…

It was an old quote which ran through Weiss’ mind, but it seemed oddly fitting considering her train of thought. Despite Ruby’s typically cheerful and innocent demeanor, those who had witnessed the girl’s true anger were loathe to see it again, and Weiss had no doubt in her mind that she would do her best to escape were such a situation to resurface. She hoped she wouldn’t have to see it, but -

A prodding finger in the center of Weiss’ forehead stopped her train of thought dead in its tracks, and she stared in surprise at Ruby as the girl pulled her hand away from Weiss’ face.

“Ok, Weiss… what’s wrong?” Propped up on her hands and knees overtop the scattered books and papers the two had strewn across their dorm room floor, Ruby had managed to crawl close enough to Weiss to poke her in the forehead without the heiress even noticing she was moving. Having satisfactorily reacquired her partner’s attention, Ruby sat back on her haunches to regard Weiss, her legs splayed out to either side of her body as she tilted her head in curiosity. Her voice was gentle as she spoke again, her concern evident. “You never space out this much. That’s more like Yang.”

A small smile crept onto Weiss’ lips as she thought of Ruby’s yellow-clad sister. Yang was always their least attentive team member, often known to leave homework assignments until the last moment or beg for copies of notes from her classmates - namely, Weiss. A particular moment arose in Weiss’ mind of an instance earlier that week where Yang had nearly gotten away with sleeping through an entire session of Professor Port’s class, her cover only being blown when she had snored loud enough to be heard over the snorting of the pair of Boarbatusks their teacher had been showing for a demonstration. Her lapse in stealth had earned her twice the amount of homework as the rest of the class, which was a staggering quantity for someone as lax as Yang. She had eventually managed to convince Weiss to help her finish it, but it had cost her several favors in exchange.

“I’m fine,” Weiss answered finally, attempting to sound nonchalant in her reply. It didn’t sound very convincing even to her own ears, and she doubted Ruby was any more fooled by her attempt at deception. Was she fine? Clearly not, if she was losing focus so easily in the middle of working on an assignment with her partner. “I’m just…”

Alright, Weiss Schnee. Time to stop lying to her… and yourself.

“Not fine…” she sighed, finally giving up on maintaining her facade. Weiss rubbed her face with a palm, not so much annoyed as she was disappointed in herself. Perhaps it was an artifact remaining from her life with her parents, but Weiss had a tendency to expect nothing but absolute perfection out of herself, whether it was to her benefit or to her detriment. Whenever she found herself lacking in some form or another, all it took was the ghost of Jacques Schnee’s voice echoing its disapproval through her head to jolt her back to propriety.

Weiss’ eyes met Ruby’s again. If it had been anyone else she was with, the heiress might have expected to have her gaze met with annoyance or frustration, but with her partner Weiss had learned that those kinds of negative emotions were rarely seen, if at all. Ruby seemed to have a bottomless well of kindness in her heart no matter the situation - well, so long as said situation didn’t involve someone stealing her cookies. Even now, with Weiss’ multiple failed attempts to keep her attention on the task at hand, Ruby showed no signs of impatience as she smiled softly at her partner. Somehow, without asking or even trying, the redhead seemed to know exactly what was going on in Weiss’ head, and had intuitively found just the right way to behave to put her friend at ease.

That was just like Ruby. The youngest member of their team, and while she was perhaps not the wisest among them, she had no end of surprises up her sleeve when it came to helping others. Maybe instead of trying to tackle this problem as she usually did, Weiss needed to approach the situation from another perspective.

Closing her eyes one more time, Weiss took a deep breath and forced herself to focus. In her head, she shoved aside all the distracting thoughts which had been bombarding her mind and attempted to shift how she was thinking. If she was Ruby, what would she do to help her help herself? The answer came surprisingly easily.

“You know what? Why don’t we take a break?”

If Ruby was startled that the suggestion to do something other than finish their homework in its entirety before doing anything else had come from the ever-so-studious Weiss, the reaction must have been buried under the look of eager excitement which instantly covered her innocent features. She sprang to her feet with uncanny levels of agility, moving from a splayed-out sit to a standing position faster than the eye could follow.

“I was just thinking that!” Ruby’s voice was bright and delighted, with no trace of the quiet concern it had held just moments before. “How did you know what I was gonna say? You’re so smart, Weiss!”

Weiss scoffed at the praise, though she couldn’t entirely prevent a self-satisfied smile from encroaching on her lips.

“It was easy,” Weiss lied, her voice belaying the uncertain thoughts she was sure were still hiding somewhere in the shadowy recesses of her mind. Her face took on a haughty air, and she lifted her chin as she explained. “You were paying far more attention to me than to our work. I assumed it was only a matter of time before you lost focus completely.”

Her words were met with renewed giggles from Ruby, who wasn’t fooled in the slightest. The redhead was more than familiar with her partner’s tendency to cover up her own lapses in behavior, and she didn’t bother to refute Weiss’ statement.

“You’re probably right!” Ruby agreed easily, grinning shamelessly at her friend as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “You know me so well. Anyway, I’ll go get our shoes. Be right back!”

Weiss shook her head in bemusement as Ruby dashed out of the room. Her energy seemed to be as neverending as her kindness. The bubbly personality suited the girl well, though, she had to admit. It was only a matter of seconds before Ruby whizzed back through the doorway, her combat boots in one hand and Weiss’ everyday short heels in the other.

“Wanna go get something to eat?” Ruby had hardly even handed over Weiss’ shoes before the question was already spilling forth from her lips, and Weiss was anything but surprised. Just as Ruby had grown familiar with Weiss’ attitude, Weiss had learned that Ruby was always willing to eat.

“Sure, that’s fine,” Weiss agreed with a shrug. “Anything to get you back on task.”

Again, there was that bright laughter, and Ruby led the way into the dormitory hall without comment. Following behind her partner, Weiss knew she had gotten lucky with her assignment of teammate. She wasn’t sure if anyone else in their entire year could handle her as well as Ruby did, and surely not as effortlessly. Even before she set foot outside of their room, Weiss felt herself relaxing as Ruby’s infectious personality washed over her and pushed away the problems from her mind.

She would never admit it, but she was glad to have Ruby Rose as her partner.


End file.
